Main menu

A desperate and largely unknown humanitarian crisis is deteriorating in the Lake Chad Basin region of West Africa, forcing millions of people to flee their homes and leaving millions more in need of humanitarian assistance. Oxfam is providing life-saving support but help is urgently needed to prevent the crisis turning into a catastrophe.

Since January 2015 more than 1 million women and men fleeing war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty entered or passed through Greece in search of safety and a better life. We are working in Athens, Lesvos island and the Epirus region of North-West Greece responding to the urgent needs of people arriving. Support our work.

Did you know that 90% of Africa’s rural land is undocumented, leaving rural communities vulnerable to land-grabbing? It's a matter of human rights. It's their land. Join our collective effort to make a difference not just for Indigenous Peoples and local communities but for the health of the environment and ending poverty and inequality.

Every year, the gap between rich and poor gets even wider – and it’s being fuelled by the use of tax havens. Today, 62 individuals have the same wealth as the poorest half the people on our planet. It is time to bring an end to inequality. It is time to Even it up!

Two years of extended fighting has forced thousands of people to seek refuge in Nyal and the islands surrounding it. Many must regularly walk long distances alone in search of aid and food. We are assisting them to access free and safe travel by training canoe operators and distributing vouchers for transport.

For 40 years, the Quechua communities in Peru have lived with contaminated rivers, and poor health as a result of oil drilling. Teddy Guerra is leading the effort to obtain integral land rights for his community before any more concessions are given to oil companies. Read his story and sign the petition.

Millions of people are being forced to flee their homes, risking everything to escape conflict, disaster, poverty or hunger. We are working in nine of the ten top refugee source countries as well as in refugee host countries. We urgently need your help to reach people in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and in Europe.

With no end in sight to the conflict in Syria, hundreds of thousands of people are living in desperate conditions and exposed to continuing violence. Today, half the pre-conflict population of 22 million Syrians have fled their homes and more than 13.5 million people urgently need your help.

You are here

Time running out to help rice farmers in areas of the Philippines devastated by typhoon Haiyan

Published:

21 November 2013

Failing to immediately provide seeds, fertilizer and tools will put millions of people at risk of severe hunger in the coming months.

Justin Morgan

Oxfam’s Country Director in the Philippines

Millions of people in the Philippines will go hungry in the coming months if rice farmers don’t receive urgent assistance after typhoon Haiyan wiped out a third of the countries rice growing areas, Oxfam warns today.

Rice crops harvests in the five regions most affected by the disaster have been decimated and missing the next rice planting season in December would leave millions of Filipinos without their staple food for daily consumption as well as a huge loss of income and increased debt for farmers.

Oxfam’s Country Director in the Philippines Justin Morgan said: “Time is fast running out to get the assistance to poor farmers they so urgently need. They must meet the deadline for the planting season in December if they are to start to recover from the typhoon.

“Failing to immediately provide seeds, fertilizer and tools will put millions of people at risk of severe hunger in the coming months, compounding the impact of the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.”

Typhoon Haiyan hit the country just as farmers were harvesting the main season paddy crop representing over fifty percent of the annual production.

International help needed

Oxfam is calling on international donors to urgently help fill the funding gap for the agricultural part of the UN Haiyan Action Plan which is currently severely underfunded at less than 9 percent (OCHA 19th November).

In the short term the Philippines National Food Authority (NFA) must also deliver rice from local harvests in areas of the country unaffected by the disaster to those in need and make sure farmers are receiving support to enable them to diversify the types of crops they can grow.

The National Rice Farmers council spokesperson Jaime Tadeo said: “Farmers need help to recover from the devastation of their farms and livelihoods including locally adapted seeds, vegetables and other crops to diversify their sources of income.”

Oxfam is there

Justin Morgan said: “Aid Agencies on the ground are providing as much support to farmers at this crucial time as possible. Oxfam teams are working in Samar and Leyte, two key rice producing areas, supporting farmers in clearing and restoring farm production areas.”

“It is, however, essential for international donors to give more money for agriculture support right now so that farmers can plant more rice, diversify their crops and repair key infrastructure and therefore prevent an even greater food emergency down the line.”

Notes to editors

Typhoon Haiyan has wiped out one third of the Philippines’ rice growing areas according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. FAO has downgraded its forecast for the 2013 rice production in the country from 18.9 million tons to 18 million tons, according to FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) on 19 November.

The rice production shortfall of 900,000 tons will be felt disproportionally in the five most affected regions. The Eastern Visayas region, the worst affected region has a total rice growing area of 157,632 hectares accounting for 22% of its total agriculture area. In 2012, the region had a total rice production output of 994,972 metric tons supplying the region’s basic staple needs.

Oxfam has worked with farmers and fisher folk in different parts of the Philippines for many years especially by supporting initiatives aimed at improving terms and conditions for poor farming communities.

Oxfam International Survey

Please help us to improve the Oxfam website! This short survey should take just a few minutes to complete. You can opt to make your responses anonymous. The survey will close on 13 March 2015 at 5 pm GMT. We'll pick one respondent at random to receive a $35 Good Books gift voucher by 31 March 2015. We value your feedback.